Airhead: The Imperfect Art of Making News

Newsnight anchor Emily Maitlis gives us a peek behind the curtain of interviews with the most powerful and charismatic individuals of our age

If you think you know the news, think again.

In this behind-the-scenes, no holds barred account of life on Newsnight in the seconds before, during and after going on air, Emily Maitlis discloses the wrangling, bust-ups, blow-ups, pleading, last-second script-shreddings, scoops, walk-outs and unexpected love-ins that we never see on-screen.

Covering everything from the Paris terror attacks to Grenfell, #MeToo to President Clinton’s love affairs, Boris Johnson, goat yoga, and interviews with everyone from Emma Thompson and Tony Blair to Donald Trump and Russell Brand, Airhead is a brilliant expose of the moments that never make the news.

‘A wonderfully sane book for our unhinged times’ Simon Schama

‘Vividly chronicles the pains and perils of news television’ Guardian

‘Emily has a style that would make you enjoy her report on the end of the world’ Jeremy Vine

‘Fluent, conversational and funny. Acerbic, hilarious’ Evening Standard

‘Searing honesty, compassion, intelligence … engages at every level’ Daily Mail

‘Irresistible. Her book’s a romp’ The Times